BIG FISH

It’s been a while since Tim Burton released one of his films, but Big Fish – a colorful, imaginative, sprawling fable filled with his trademark eccentricities – is more than worth the wait and is likely destined for a few Oscar nominations.

Based on the novel by Daniel Wallace, it’s the story of Edward Bloom (Albert Finney), a man overflowing with countless tall tales of adventure and who, on his deathbed, is preparing for the final pages of his own life’s story. His son, William (Billy Crudup), has returned from abroad and struggles to get some sense of the man his father really is...and was...before it’s too late. Jumping wildly back and forth in time, the film tracks a young Edward (Ewan McGregor) through pivotal moments, and fills the screen with all kinds of bizarre and endearing characters. Among them are a circus owner (Danny DeVito), a giant (Mark McGrory), a wayward poet (Steve Buscemi) and the love of Edward’s life, his wife Sandy (played in present day by Jessica Lange and, as a young woman, by Alison Lohman).

Are Edward’s stories fact or fabrication? Has he really done all the things he says he’s done? Met all the people he says he’s met? And what does any of it have to do with an enormous, mythical catfish that serves as Edward’s white whale?

Telling you would ruin the fun, and the intricate tapestry of the movie is one that has to be savored as each thread is woven onscreen. It’s a bit like watching the best photo album you’ve ever seen open before you, while someone flips its pages at random whenever a new memory pops into his head. Gorgeously shot and laden with countless picture-perfect images, Big Fish is essentially a small story about a big man (and a big fish) contentedly coming to terms with his impending demise after a rich, fulfilling life. It’s funny, sad, moving, curious and enjoyable on so many levels. The performances, from the leads through the dozens of supporting players, are all excellent and, for the first time in a long time, Jessica Lange didn’t grate on my last nerve. Believe me, that’s saying a lot. Careful attention was also obviously paid to casting realistic young and old versions of the same characters, and that makes the time-travel viewers are asked to follow all the more seamless.

Big Fish made me cry. It’s one of those gems of a film, like Burton’s beautiful Edward Scissorhands, that is such a perfect, weird little package that just watching it makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Don’t wait for video.